Teodora’s Book Reviews: “The Diaries of Robin’s Travels” by Ken and Angie Lake (Sweet Cherry Publishing, Leicester, 2016)

Traveling around the world is one of the biggest dreams anyone could ever have. It’s quite a sheer delight to go to a new country and find out everything about its culture. If you are keen on having an adventure, then this brand new collection, The Diaries of Robin’s Travels, will offer you not only a pleasant reading time, but also an exciting trip through some of the world’s most famous cities.

We’ve met Robin before, in another collection called The Diaries of Robin’s Toys (you can check out its book review here). This “transition” from toys to travels suggests us that Robin has grown up and he is up to a much more challenging experience, such as discovering the world around him.

These ten new books have the same plot idea: Robin and Grandad plan a trip to a city and once they get to their destination, they cast a spell and get themselves a free travel guide. Of course, what differentiate a story from the others are the tale of the city itself and its unique history.

Robin’s adventures begin in London, which is in fact the closest place to the boy’s hometown. The first book of the collection is definitely the most important one, as it features the shop from which Robin and Grandad buy a special item, the key to their unusual trips: The Magic Talking Book of the World’s Most Interesting People and Places. Grandad, who knows how to use magic, brings the book to life by coming up with another spell, as catchy as the one from the first collection: “Little book, make it so, / Tell us all we need to know. / People, places, countries, towns, / Show the jewels in all these crowns!” It’s quite amazing how tiny, nicely dressed-up guides just pop out of the book after the spell has been said. Robin’s guide in London is no one other than Charles Dickens. The English writer manages to highlight the most important tourist attractions (Big Ben, London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London) and reveals some secrets about the city’s past (which was his source of inspiration a long time ago).

The following trip takes place in Paris. Robin leaves England for the first time and the journey is neither by car, nor by plane. He travels in style by train, under the sea, through the Channel Tunnel. As soon as they get to Paris, Robin and Grandad meet Gustave Eiffel, who shows them famous landmarks and dishes. The little boy finds out that the Eiffel Tower was initially supposed to be a temporary structure, then discovers the beauty of Notre Dame with its huge, colorful windows and admires wonderful works of art at Louvre. He learns more about French monarchs and revolutionaries, pulls funny gargoyle-like faces in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles and tries out unusual delicacies such as snails or frogs’ legs (escargot and Cuisses de Grenouille).

The next stop is in Barcelona, the jewel under the Mediterranean sun. The trip turns out to be even more exciting from the moment Robin meets Antoni Gaudi. The Spanish architect proudly presents his structures such as the Sagrada Familia and the Guell Park. He also takes Robin and Grandad for a pleasant walk on the famous Las Ramblas street and shows them La Boqueria, the largest market in the entire city. Robin spends the best time at Camp Nou, the biggest stadium in Europe and the home to F. C. Barcelona, and dreams of being a successful football player. Also, he doesn’t leave Barcelona without tasting a large variety of freshly-made tapas.

Robin and Grandad still enjoy the warm sunny weather while in Venice. With Marco Polo as their guide, they explore the city by gondolas, find out why all the buildings seem to float on water and try out authentic pizza and gelato. The boy is easily fascinated with the beautiful architectural designs of the Doge’s Palace or Basilica di San Marco (“Church of Gold”) and the importance of Biblioteca Marciano, the National Library of St Mark, which holds the greatest collection of classical works and manuscripts. The icing of the cake is definitely the Carnival of Venice, which offers the perfect close-up of the city’s traditions.

As they embark on their next trip, Robin and Grandad go through a dramatic change in the weather. From the boiling hot sun in Barcelona and Venice, they jump straight into the cold, snowy world of St Petersburg. Peter the Great, the founder of the city, leads them on a peaceful ride in a tram and shows them some of the grand cathedrals in the entire Russia (St Isaac’s, St Michael’s and Peter and Paul Cathedrals), the residence of the Russian monarchs (The Winter Palace) and one of the largest and oldest museums in the world (The Hermitage). Robin also gets to experience a whole evening at an unusual water circus and learns more about ballet and what it takes to be a great dancer.

The next big step in Robin’s adventures is flying to a different continent. Grandad thinks that the best destination for such a trip is Istanbul, a famous transcontinental city. The founder of the modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, talks about the significant collection of mosques (The Blue Mosque), bazaars (The Grand Bazaar) and palaces (The Topkapi Palace), points out some characteristics about the Muslim religion and praises the delightful taste of the Turkish Delight. Robin surely feels excited as he stands at the edge of two big continents, Europe and Asia.

The two travelers keep on with their challenging experience of flying further from England. They board on a 12-hour flight to Rio de Janeiro and have the honor to meet Dom Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil. The tourists have a lot of possibilities for fun and relaxing, such as visiting the well-known 38-metre tall statue of Cristo Redentor (which translates in English as “Christ the Redeemer”) and the Maracana Stadium, learning how to surf or taking a stroll along the beach while watching the sunset. Robin and Grandad also attend the Rio Carnival, learn some easy samba steps and make sure they come back home with a pair of maracas, so as to remind them of the colorful and lively atmosphere in Brazil.

Another beautiful city they go to is Agra, the home to the widely recognized Taj Mahal. The Magic Talking Book comes with a little twist, as Robin and Grandad come face to face with Mumtaz Mahal, a Mughal Empress and the first woman as their guide. The Empress shares some secrets about the Mughal Empire, tells the story behind the Taj Mahal, mentions a popular Indian dessert called kulfi (which is similar to ice cream, but is denser, creamier and takes a lot longer to melt) and introduces the boy to his first elephant.

When Robin starts learning at school about cities and the way they grow, Grandad takes him on a trip to Dubai, which happens to be the fastest-growing city in the world. Robin is astonished by the grandeur of the city right from the start. Even the airport with huge palm trees inside of it makes him stare in wonder. The founder and first ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Buti, doesn’t hide his pride and shows off the most spectacular buildings and skyscrapers, for instance Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure on Earth. Robin also comes across the Palm Islands, some artificial islands which altogether take the shape of a huge palm tree. However the boy comes to the conclusion that the Palm Islands are no match for the World Islands, which, of course, form the continents.

The last city the two travel companions visit is Las Vegas, exclusively presented by Sarah Winnemucca, a member of the Paitue tribe, based in Nevada. Robin and Grandad learn all about Las Vegas before it was a city, visit a ghost town and have their picture taken at the glowing city sign with bright bulbs and neon lights. Las Vegas may be the last place from Robin’s global trip, but is certainly the best location to end the series of travels with. The city is known for having copies of famous landmarks from other countries. Robin simultaneously goes on a quick journey around the world and a trip down memory lane with unforgettable throwbacks.

What I really liked about this collection is that the books are easy to read, therefore they’re suitable for children of all ages. In addition to that, the evocative and funny pictures go perfectly well with the stories. The readers will notice some words written in bold throughout the books. They are usually names of cities, famous people and sights or some characteristics of a certain country and they are explained and shortly described at the end of each story, in a special section called Grandad’s Notebook. I think this idea really comes in handy. Another thing kids will love about this collection is the introduction of every single diary. They all feature Robin sitting at his bedroom window while watching how a cat and a dog get into trouble and how their owners desperately call the fire brigade to solve the problem. The silly adventures of Tiddles the cat and Wobbler the dog will surely bring a smile to the readers.

As soon as you have the collection, there’s nothing left for you to do than to discover the beauty of the world through the eyes of a curious boy and a loving grandfather, with the help of iconic guides. Extreme fun and memorable time are guaranteed!